Getting Carried Away
by twistedwidget
Summary: Five times Murdock was carried around like a piece of luggage, and the one time he returned the favor. Prompted by thecathedral22.
1. Shopping Trip

A/N: This is a response to a prompt by thecathedral22, so thank her for the inspiration ;)  
Disclaimer: Still own nothing  
Warnings: Language

Chapter One - Shopping Trip

Face sighed as he heard the almost inhuman squeal coming from the toy department three aisles over. He knew this was going to happen the moment Hannibal had issued the fateful order.

"Face, I want you to go pick up some supplies from Wal-Mart," the colonel had said after taking a long pull on his cigar. The man had almost looked apologetic, and Face couldn't understand why until the older man tacked on, "and take Murdock with you," at the end.

"Aww Hannibal… why?" Okay, so he was whining. But no one who hadn't ever tried corralling the excitable pilot in a huge store with thousands of brands at discount prices was in a position to judge him. And those who'd had the joy of running after Murdock as he "test drove" a tricycle through the frozen foods section wouldn't criticize him anyway.

Shedding a few tears at the prospect of a shopping trip with Murdock would also fall into the category of an acceptable response to the situation.

"Because if he stays here, B.A.'s going to kill him." Hannibal looked toward the garage where they could both hear the crazy pilot reenacting scenes from the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

Face had scoffed. "Aw come on, boss! I know Murdock's more irritating when he's trapped inside for too long, but this is Bosco we're talking about. He makes threats every time, but you and I both know he'll never follow through."

The conman determined the gods must have a sadistic sense of humor because at that moment Murdock's animated voice cut off in the middle of an impressive-sounding war cry, followed by growls and crashes. It was the sudden silence that prompted the two into the garage where they were met with an interesting sight.

B.A. had attacked the pilot with duct tape.

He looked like a struggling gray caterpillar as he wiggled across the floor. Murdock, whose mouth was taped shut, looked beseechingly at the two newcomers, who were simply staring in shock at the scene. His expression turned into a heated glare, however, when Temp simply turned to the colonel and said, "He'll be fine like this until I get back, right?"

Brought from his memories with a smaller, yet no less worry-inducing, shriek Templeton sighed before flinging the pack of assorted zip ties into the cart. He decided to finish picking up the rest of the items before herding James out the door. Face headed off to look for the duct tape.

He may need it later.

* * *

Templeton had finished paying for the supplies and was loading them into the back of the SUV before deciding to bite the bullet and locate his best friend. Hannibal would be pissed as hell if word ever got back to him that he'd left Murdock to his own devices, but fuck him. Next time **he** could babysit the grown man whose idea of a good trip to the store involved an epic light-saber battle with every kid in a three mile radius.

Sure enough, Murdock was still in the toy aisle. At least he hadn't seemed to draft any children into causing chaos with him. No overturned display cases greeted his eyes, and there didn't seem to be any toys out of their packaging.

Since entering the store with the crazy pilot, Templeton was actually starting to feel the first stirrings of relief. H.M. looked to be in a trance as he stared at a section totally devoted to toy aircraft. Grabbing the oblivious man, Templeton started to tug him away from the shelves. "Okay buddy, time to go."

No response.

Face was beginning to think the other man was going through one of his occasional bouts of catatonia until he snapped his fingers in front of Murdock's face. Finally blinking, the pilot reached out and grabbed his friend's shirt. "Oh sweet peaches, Facey… are you seeing this?! They've got a Sikorsky UH-60!"

Temp stared uncomprehendingly, causing H.M. to fidget. "A Black Hawk…."

Face nodded in a placating manner. "Um… that's great, bud, but it's time to go."

The pilot's response was to stare at him as if he'd just announced that he was gay and was having a mad, passionate affair with B.A. "A Black Hawk, Face!"

The conman sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. This conversation was gearing up to last hours. "Yeah, Murdock… that's swell, but we need to go. Hannibal's expecting us back soon."

"Ooh, look!" Bouncing up and down like a toddler on a sugar high thirty minutes before bedtime, Murdock pointed at a toy three rows up. "There's a Chinook!"

"Alright, that's it." Face grabbed Murdock's wrist and bent down, pulling the shorter man into a modified fireman's carry. He ignored the indignant yelp from his best friend and hauled him out the door and to their vehicle like a sack of potatoes.

Hannibal needed an ass-kicking over this.

_TBC..._

* * *

For those who don't already know, I'm leaving for about a month on a trip to Louisiana today. I know I said I wouldn't leave any stories hanging while I was gone, but am posting this because it's going to basically be six one-shots. Thanks in advance to anyone who reads and reviews! And thanks again to my friend/long lost twin sister thecathedral22 for sending me this prompt.


	2. Lost in Space Invaders

Chapter Two - Lost in Space Invaders

Hannibal never could say what pulled him away from sleep at four thirty-five in the morning. Blinking the last remnants of slumber from his eyes, he took a moment to catalog the various ambient noises. Everything seemed to be in order. Having learned to trust his instincts from early on in his military career, however, the colonel decided to do a quick visual survey of the team's current safe house.

It never hurt to be extra cautious, especially when the safety and freedom of his men were at stake.

Bosco's door was firmly locked from the inside. The burly corporal had been bolting his bedroom door ever since their third week on the run when he'd been awakened by the smell of popcorn. Murdock had been sitting at the end of the bed, munching on the salty treat and staring at the black man. More than a little creeped out, B.A. had demanded to know what the crazy fool had been doing. The pilot had smiled and said that he'd gotten addicted to watching reality television, and "Bosco, B.A." was his current obsession.

If that weren't enough of a shock, James had gone on to ask Bosco if he would mind cutting to the commercials so he could take a bathroom break without missing any of the program. Much to Murdock's dismay, his new favorite show suffered an early cancellation.

It had taken Face an hour to finally locate the bound and gagged pilot, who'd been "mysteriously" secured to a limb in a massive tree behind the property.

B.A.'s snores could be heard from behind the wooden barrier, so he moved on to his youngest charge. Face was tangled in the bedding. Chuckling silently, John took a moment to free the brash lieutenant. He rolled his eyes when he noticed the young man had once again gone to bed in nothing but his birthday suit.

Seriously - how many times would it take for Face to leap into a speeding vehicle, butt-naked, after an MP early morning wake-up call to realize that a nice pair of sleep pants would save him and his team a load of embarrassment? It's a miracle there hasn't yet been a YouTube video featuring the conman's lily-white ass, mooning the viewers as he sprinted down a random residential neighborhood as B.A. peeled out of the driveway.

Templeton mumbled in his sleep, bringing the colonel from his thoughts. With a fond smile, he briefly brushed the blonde curls back and left.

Murdock's room was filled with various and assorted peculiar things which reflected their owner. Fast food toys covered the entire surface of the desk, arranged by color. A hand-made mobile of paper airplanes hung inside the open closet, while the man's clothes lay haphazardly across any available surface not covered in comic books and aviation manuals. It often amazed him how different James was from his best friend. Where Templeton Peck preferred elegance and order, Murdock thrived in simplicity and chaos.

He still hasn't figured out why the man kept his pistol in his left shoe at night. Hannibal had once asked Murdock to explain his logic, but the colonel had never been good at understanding interpretive dance moves.

The only thing missing in the room of oddities was Murdock, himself. This wasn't unusual, as the pilot often suffered from insomnia, but Hannibal wouldn't be able to get any rest until he was able to lay hands on his unruly "problem child". Sounds of artificial gunfire pulled him into the living room. Though no lights were on, the glare from the television provided enough illumination to see his missing man.

Dark circles lining glassy eyes were his first indication that things were not as they should be. Seemingly ignorant of his presence, Murdock continued to blast digital bad guys as he fought his way through whatever he was playing. Hannibal sighed. He'd asked Face to hide the gaming system as soon as its presence was discovered in the house, and he wished now that he had made it an order.

It appeared that whenever Murdock got his hands on any kind of video game he was incapable of putting it down. He'd once found "Super Collapse II" on Face's laptop and had to be physically restrained by B.A. while the lieutenant uninstalled it. A day and a half of continuous gameplay had screwed with Murdock's mind so much that, for days, every time he closed his eyes to sleep he could see the game screen etched behind his eyelids and became frantic because he couldn't find the mouse.

A week straight of being awakened by Murdock screaming, "It's almost to the top! I need a blue bomb," had caused Face to delete even the standard solitaire games on his computer.

As soon as Hannibal saw the Xbox lying innocuously beside the television, Hannibal had asked the lieutenant to put it away in a closet before Murdock saw it, but Face insisted that the pilot had already been through and hadn't even given the gaming system a second glance. He'd said that if James was going to freak out, he'd have shown an indication of it already.

He was wrong.

"Murdock, how long have you been up?"

Without pausing once in his frantic clicking, the crazy man replied, "I haven't been to bed yet, boss. I just need to get through the aliens before they blow up the Earth."

That was another reason Hannibal hated for Murdock to become obsessed with these games; He was never sure how much of the storyline the pilot believed. Knowing James like he did, he'd be willing to bet he'd convinced himself that everything was real.

Briefly praying for strength, Colonel Smith ordered Murdock to turn the system off and retire for what little remained of the night.

Confirming his earlier fears, H.M. shook his head in insubordination. This was the first time the pilot had ever disobeyed a direct order from Hannibal Smith. "I'm sorry, Colonel, but I have to hold these guys off until the explosives I set up have a chance to go off. This'll start the chain reaction, which will decimate their entire networking system. It's the only way to save the planet!"

John reached over and turned off the system, causing the pilot to start screeching in panic and disbelief. As the pilot pounced on the gaming device with the obvious intent to turn it back on and see if the situation could be salvaged, the colonel grabbed his pilot underneath his arms and picked him up bodily.

"No, you don't understand, Colonel! They'll kill us!" The frantic kicking and screaming brought the other two men running into the room, weapons out.

"The president doesn't understand the full scope of the invasion!" A flailing fist hit the colonel's jaw unintentionally, causing the older man to grunt in surprise. "The world's joint military forces aren't strong enough… they needed a man on the inside with my expertise! They screened thousands of people before they found me and **begged** me for my help… I promised them, Hannibal!"

As Hannibal passed Templeton with the hysterical pilot still tucked under one arm, he glared at the conman. "Get rid of it." He started toward Murdock's room but paused for a second, and turned back to face the conman. "And put on some goddamned pants!"

"If you don't let me go we're gonna die! We're **all** gonna die!"

The Xbox was never seen by the team again, and neither were Face's balls.


	3. Exit Stage Right

Chapter Three - Exit Stage Right

"Um, excuse me… Mr. Face, is it?"

Templeton looked up from the documents he was going through in an attempt to find proof of shady business dealings from Tricorp Farms. Apparently this Tricorp thought the eighty acres owned by their newest clients, Betty and Ricky Thompson, (and their five kids), would be the perfect acquisition to help expand their growing corporation. All attempts to buy the acreage were met with refusal, causing the less than stellar organization to try strong-arming the Thompsons off of their own land.

Kathleen Thompson, the eldest daughter, seemed hesitant to disturb the blonde lieutenant, but gained courage with the welcoming smile he offered.

"It's just Face, actually." Templeton set the documents down in his lap in order to focus the whole of his attention on the shy teenager. He hoped this wouldn't be another one of those "underage girl crushing on the handsome stranger" scenarios, because he truly hated squashing their fragile egos. Not to mention the fact that her daddy would likely shoot first and ask questions later if he thought for one second her feelings were returned.

The man owned at least three shotguns, and Temp quite liked his balls where they were, thank you very much.

Therefore, he had been relieved at first to find out that she had sought him out for another reason. "My dad asked me to come get you or Mr. Smith because that guy with you looks to be about to jump off of the barn."

Face blinked for a moment in puzzlement before his brain caught up to his ears and he sprinted for the door, heedless to the scattering papers in his wake. He had no idea why Murdock would even **be** on top of the barn, much less trying to jump off of it. At least he assumed the girl meant his best friend. It was incomprehensible that B.A. would be the star in this unfolding drama.

Sure enough, Templeton could see the form of his closest comrade as he neared the imposing structure. Mr. Thompson and a few farm hands watched worriedly from the ground.

"Murdock! Get down from there!" Seeing that the pilot was pacing back and forth along the edge of the highest fucking point of the roof, Temp quickly entered into a panic. H.M. either couldn't hear his screaming, or was choosing to ignore him, so Face immediately scaled the ladder to reach the crazy man. B.A., actually having heard the lieutenant's screams and coming to see what the "crazy fool" was up to now, followed close behind.

Focusing on getting within reaching distance of the pilot instead of the unbelievable height, Face didn't hear what Murdock was saying until he was close enough to pull him to safety. (Or push him off the roof, depending on the answer he gave as to what the hell he was doing up here in the first place).

"O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Capulet."

"Murdock, you crazy fool! What're you doin', man?" B.A. stayed well away from the edge, but was close enough to snatch the pilot if he looked like he was about to fall. For the first time since he was joined by his friends, Murdock paused and looked up at them.

"Oh hey guys… come to watch the show?" Grinning like a loon, H.M. resumed his pacing. Only this time he did so to work off some nervous energy and not as entertainment for the masses.

Templeton rolled his eyes. "No, you idiot, we did not come to watch the show. We came to drag you off of the motherfuckin' roof! Do you have any idea how high up we are?"

Murdock giggled. "Well it'd have to be high, Facey. I'm currently reenacting all of Juliet's scenes from Romeo and Juliet and, since there was no balcony available, this is the best location I could find to capture the feeling she had as she gazed down at her one true love and begged like a shameless hussy." He shoo'd them away. "I'll be down as soon as I'm done."

Grabbing Murdock's sleeve as he got a little too close to the edge for Templeton's liking, Face tried to reason with him. "Murdock… listen buddy, you need to come down now. I'll find you a better spot to do this, okay?"

Murdock stubbornly shook his head and again motioned for the other two to leave.

Bosco growled, "Fuck this shit!" He reached out and grabbed the pilot's collar before jerking him backwards and picking him up over his shoulder. "I don't think it's too much to ask to be able to do just one job, you crazy fool, where you didn't act like a **crazy motherfuckin' fool**!"

James, who had started squirming as soon as he was manhandled, thankfully stilled when the black man reached the ladder and prepared to mount it. "Aw c'mon B.A., I was just gettin' to the best part!"

"Don't care. And if you get back on this ladder, Crazy, I'm gonna take all your sock puppets and cut 'em up into rags!"

Murdock gasped. "You wouldn't dare!"

"Try me!"

Finally back on solid ground, Bosco set his friend down before threatening him with a single look. Proverbial tail tucked between his legs, Murdock slunk off toward the house.

Face sighed and clasped the big guy on the shoulder. "Well, it could have been worse, B.A."

"How's that?"

"He could have been wearing a dress."

They both shuddered at the mental image.


	4. No Man Left Behind

Chapter Four - No Man Left Behind

The mission had gone to shit right around the time the crime boss recognized Face as the one he'd seen sneaking from his twenty-three year old daughter's room the night previous. The rest of the team had briefly glared at the sheepish conman before making their way toward the exit. Dodging gun-wielding minions, they were horrified when their car exploded from an inconvenient goon with a rocket launcher.

Murdock, ever the bloodhound when it came to sniffing out aircraft, was the one who'd first spotted the little Cessna 172 Skyhawk. It was a tight fit, but they all managed to get aboard. It was tough at first convincing Bosco that "airplane good - bullets bad," but he seemed to get the message when a nearly lucky shot succeeded in trimming his mohawk for him.

Unfortunately for them, the little airplane wasn't built to deflect bullets and the baddies on the ground seemed to be in no hurry to go on a lunch break.

Murdock wrestled with the controls that were less eager to respond by the minute. "You boys may want to start looking for parachutes, and I ain't talkin' narcotics muchachos!"

Face gulped. Their situation must be really bad if James Murdock was looking to bail out. In fact, with all the crashes they had previously endured, this was the very first one in which the pilot had made that decision. Needless to say they all started frantically searching the aircraft, knowing that the odds of them finding more than one chute in the tiny cabin were miniscule. These birds were simply not built for taking up groups of skydivers.

Murdock found one stuck underneath his seat and threw it over his shoulder, accidently hitting Bosco in the face. The big guy was much too freaked out to snarl, instead strapping the device to his body as snugly as he was able. Hannibal sighed in relief when he discovered a second stowed in the cargo hold behind the two back seats. Thankfully, he also pulled out a couple of harnesses from another box.

"Okay, we've only got two chutes so we'll have to make tandem jumps." Hannibal passed the parachute and a harness up to Face, who struggled to strap the safety device in the tiny confines of the cockpit. The colonel, meanwhile had secured his own harness and clipped himself to the burly corporal. "How we doing on altitude, Murdock?"

"As long as we bail in the next three minutes, we should be golden, Colonel." Murdock tried to help Face the best he could as the conman worked to get the pilot into his harness, but it was nearly impossible to do so while the pilot was seated.

And the pilot couldn't afford to pull away from the yoke for even a second, lest the plane drop too low to allow his team to safely jump.

Hannibal wished them luck before ordering B.A. out the door. Oddly enough the large black man was more easily persuaded to jump out of a flying aircraft than to step into a grounded one.

"Lift your butt, Murdock…."

"Nah, you go ahead and jump, Facey. I got this." Face looked at the pilot uncomprehendingly for a moment.

"Exsqueeze me?" An indignant tone laced his words as the pilot's meaning became clear. Anger allowed him to finish shimmying the harness up the other man's body, where he clipped it firmly. "I'm not jumping without you, fucker!"

Murdock glared at his friend. "I'll have you know that it is the captain's duty and privilege to go down with his ship, and I'd be proud to do so."

Face sighed. "Listen Murdock, if what you told Hannibal is true then we've got about one and a half minutes until we can no longer jump without turning into hamburger meat on impact. Can you give it to me straight, just once… no puppet shows, funny accents, or songs. Why aren't you jumping?"

Murdock tightened his hands on the yoke as the plane gave another sickening lurch. "I can't let her go, Faceman. If I did, she'd drop too low for you to make it out in one piece."

Templeton hitched a breath in terror of what his friend was telling him. "Can't you put it on autopilot?" Murdock had started shaking his head before Face had finished his sentence.

"Autopilot was damaged in the firefight." Green eyes met blue. "You'd better go, Face. I'll do my best to land this little birdy in one piece, but I know you guys'll come for me soon regardless."

Face took a deep breath. "Okay, bud. You're gonna be okay… I promise." Reaching around the pilot as if to offer a hug, he instead grabbed the shorter man and yanked him away from the controls before hastily clipping their harnesses together and diving from the falling plane. Murdock was screaming at him the entire way down, but the younger man didn't care. Yes, they may hit the ground too fast, and they may even be scattered across the forest in teeny bits too small for a proper burial.

But if they did go, they'd go together, damn it.

Luck was with them during the fall, the lieutenant determined, when the parachute was snagged by a huge oak tree. Murdock was still glaring heatedly at his best friend as they dangled there twenty feet above the ground awaiting rescue from the other half of their team.

They swayed back and forth with the wind, neither saying a word until, "Aw come on, Murdock! Did you really expect me to leave you there?"

No answer. Murdock had turned back around to stare morosely at the surrounding greenery.

"You're being an asshole, James." Failing to get a rise out of his friend, Temp sighed. "Okay… if our positions had been reversed would you have left **me** up there?"

He felt the sigh vibrate in his own chest before he heard it. "No… I just didn't want you to get killed, Facey. Especially not 'cause of me."

If the con artist had had a baseball bat, he probably would have happily given his friend a concussion. Since he didn't, however, he settled for a sound smack upside the head with his palm.

"Ow!" Face didn't let him complain long, however. "Shut up, you moron! You're not the one who shot holes in the plane. It was **my** fault we had to make a fast getaway to begin with! And I don't care who screws up on whatever fucking job we're doing, okay? I will **never** leave you behind!"

Murdock was silent for so long that Temp thought that maybe he'd fallen asleep until he'd heard a whispered, "Thanks, Face," moments before faint sounds of Hannibal's and B.A.'s calls reached their ears.

Face affectionately clasped the other man's shoulder before their screams answered their teammates'.

* * *

I thought about taking this time to complain about the major ordeal I've gone through in the last day, but decided that it would make a funny story instead. Therefore, I plan to have a new drabble up soon with Face as the central character and it **will** be based on true events.

On a related note, I'm sorry I haven't answered all your wonderful reviews and questions yet... they will be coming after this chapter is posted.


	5. Getting His Goat

Chapter Five - Getting His Goat

Face had never been to a zoo before. When Murdock found out this little tidbit of knowledge he mercilessly begged Hannibal for a zoo trip until the older man had caved. It was to the point where they were either going to the closest animal park, or Murdock was going into the ocean.

B.A. had even offered to craft the pilot his very own pair of cement shoes to help him walk around underwater.

Picking up a brightly-colored map at the ticket counter, Murdock grabbed Face's elbow before dragging him off in the direction of the reptile house. Hannibal was unsure if either of them had heard his admonishments to behave, but it didn't matter. Even if they had, they never followed that particular order.

And he doubted they would start today.

* * *

"Whoa… look at this guy!" Face had his nose practically pressed against the thick glass as the huge boa constrictor slithered higher into his tree. "I'd hate to meet this fucker in the wild."

Murdock hissed before slapping a hand over his buddy's mouth. He smiled apologetically at the mother beside them, who was struggling to keep her two young children together. She immediately gave the two men a wary look and pulled her excited kids away. "Watch the language, Facey. This is supposed to be a kid-friendly place… well, at least until you get to the monkey cages."

Temp pulled the hand away from his mouth. "Sorry. Not used to kid-friendly areas, I guess."

Slinging an arm around the taller guy's shoulder, James smiled. "Well that's what we're here for, compadre! Let's see what's next on the tour, shall we?"

The two friends spent most of the morning in good spirits as they visited tons of animals that they had never heard of, much less seen. Everything was going great until they got to the petting zoo, however. Murdock had purchased a handful of feed and he and Face were bent over, attempting to feed the rabbits, when a goat came up and stole the pilot's red cap directly from his head.

"What the…?!" Murdock jerked around and tried to snatch his hat back, but the goat was obviously proud of his recent acquisition and wasn't about to willingly let go of his prize. Templeton had even tried to distract the animal with food, to no avail.

* * *

Hannibal and B.A. were making their own way across the zoo when they noticed a disturbance in the area of the petting zoo. Curiosity and dread showed on their faces as they went to investigate. Security guards had already subdued Face, and were now attempting to pull Murdock off of the back of a goat that was being held in a headlock by the angry pilot.

The goat tried to buck the unwelcome addition off, but James continued to straddle the animal. And from the way the spectators had the ears of their young covered, the man must have been cursing heavily.

Bosco groaned. "What did I tell you, Hannibal? You just can't take these fools anyplace. Didn't you learn nothin' from the time we were banned from that Denny's in Cleveland?"

Hannibal stared at Face, who was arguing vehemently with one of the guards as they got close enough to hear what was being said.

"I don't care what you say… that bastard started it! We weren't doing anything we weren't supposed to when he came in and stole my friend's hat!"

"It's a goat, sir," the guard said with a sigh, as if he'd already been through this a million times and was questioning himself on why he didn't become an accountant like his mother had wanted. "He doesn't know what he's doing."

Temp glared at the culprit as H.M. finally succeeded in recovering his lost possession. "Oh he knows!"

"Ha! Take that, motherfucker! Me - 1, goat - big fat zero!" Murdock jumped away from the animal and proceeded to dance around it in victory. He ignored the remaining guard who'd probably never had to deal with a problem of this magnitude in his entire career.

B.A. shook his head in disgust before strolling over to the wildly gyrating captain and picked him up. The security guards seemed thankful for the help and wasted no time informing them that they were no longer welcome in the zoo. Hannibal simply glared at his lieutenant and pointed in the direction of the exits.

Face obligingly stood and slunk off toward their van, but not before flipping the animal off who had reportedly caused all the trouble. Said goat was unaffected by the gesture, and the altercation, choosing to beg the remaining patrons for handouts.

Hannibal shook his head and left with the others. The next time Murdock pleaded for one of these trips, the pilot was definitely going into the ocean instead.

* * *

Thanks to all of the readers/reviewers! You guys make me so happy :)


	6. Payback

Chapter Six: Payback

Murdock sighed in exasperation for the hundredth time as he watched Face flirt with the saleslady in the mall. The shopping trip was to be a simple in and out of the shop with a new shirt to replace James' old one because his best friend, whom he could very happily strangle at the moment, couldn't bear to look at the mustard stain any longer. Why, oh why didn't he keep a stash of extra clothes in the van like Face did?

"Your eyes are very striking, Josie. They look like crushed sapphires when you smile," Templeton said as he reached in to push a strand of her blonde hair back behind her ear. The beautiful, (and yes - she was gorgeous), girl blushed and giggled. Murdock felt tempted to roll his eyes, but didn't want the young woman to think it was aimed at her.

Not that she would look away from Temp long enough to notice.

As soon as the debonair conman started harping on about how this girl had the most beautiful blonde hair, which appeared as if Zeus himself had come down to Earth and spun it from the finest gold, James decided a retreat was in order. He left the two to make moony eyes at each other alone before he suffered an aneurism, stroke, or heartburn. Or even jealousy, as it had been a very long time since he'd gotten laid. Maybe he should be looking for some cute girls of his own.

Murdock decided to start looking in the food court since he was feeling a bit peckish.

One hour, (and one double deluxe hamburger), later, Murdock had decided that girls liked looking at the mustard stain on his "Beam Me Up, Scotty" t-shirt even less than Face did. Speaking of the lieutenant, Murdock swung back by Gap to see that… yes, Josie still had his best friend's undivided attention. He shook his head before heading off to the bookstore.

H.M. wanted to see if there were any new aviation magazines on the rack. He also wouldn't mind picking up a new novel or two to take on the long drive to their next job in Tennessee.

* * *

This was ridiculous! Murdock has spent the last who knows how long wandering around the mall while Temp put the moves on a girl in a clothing store. It's not like he was even going to have time to get busy with her before they left town tonight! There were so many things he could be doing back at their current safe house… okay, maybe not. But even being threatened by B.A. was more fun than watching his best friend try to score.

Standing outside of Gap, Murdock pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. He considered going to see a movie, but figured that would be asking for trouble when Face noticed him missing from the store. **If**… he corrected himself, **if** he noticed him missing. He could tell him, but Templeton hasn't yet responded to any of his questions or comments in the midst of his flirting.

A quick glance at the mall clock had him steeling himself to end this charade once and for all.

He straightened his cap and approached his friend with determination as the cute girl was attempting to sell him a polo shirt.

* * *

"This would look so good on you, Templeton! The blue makes your eyes almost glow!" Josie giggled as she turned him toward a mirror.

Anything Face would have responded with was cut off as Murdock rammed into him, causing him to bend over with an "Ooof!"

Squeaking with surprise, Josie watched as Templeton's friend wrapped his arms around the back of the other man's legs and stood shakily. She could only stare in shock as the man in the ball cap left the store with a very angry, (if the red face and cursing was any indication), blonde man draped over his shoulder.

Too bad she hadn't had time to give him her number before he was abducted by his friend.

End

* * *

Thanks again to all who read/reviewed this, and especially to thecathedral22 for giving me this awesome prompt to fill!


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